Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I’m certainly not a Liverpool fan but I am a fan of Fernando Torres. Surprised? Let me tell you why. The typical modern day footballer is greedy and disloyal. Torres is quite clearly neither. Until recently he would quite easily have walked into any side in the world but that hasn’t stopped him from being fiercely loyal to both his hometown club Atletico Madrid and now Liverpool. Misplaced loyalty, some might say. After all, ultimately he is a winner and he wants to win medals, lots of them. Let’s be honest, most players would have long given up on trying to turn Liverpool back into a major force without the right level of support and few would have blamed him for leaving after last season’s woes. Yet he is still there. Massive coup, right? Well maybe not.

There is something very seriously wrong with Torres. He cuts a very forlorn figure and looks a long, long way from the world beater who ended Spain’s misadventures on the world stage with the winning goal at Euro 2008. At that precise moment in time, he was hugely sought after and expected to deliver big things at club level. There have been some highs most notably the way in which he made Vidic, arguably the best and most consistently strong defender in the Premier League look very ordinary, not just once but 3 games in a row. His performances in helping sweep aside first Real Madrid and then Man U in their own backyard made the world sit up and pay attention. Here was a striker destined for greatness.

However his performances at the World Cup were so woeful he made most of the English team look good. OK so Spain won the tournament to follow up the European crown – a huge achievement – but he contributed nothing to it. In fact, whilst he was on the pitch, he was a liability. Seriously. Spain were better off when he wasn’t playing. That’s a real fall from grace. OK so perhaps I am being a little unfair. He had been injured leading into the tournament. He was bound to be rusty. Sure the first 2 games maybe, but the whole tournament?

So what better than to get yourself fit and then start firing for your club. He owes Liverpool. I applaud his loyalty but he is the talisman and it’s about time he repaid the faith by leading from the front. Liverpool fans should be worried though. He doesn’t look that interested anymore and amazingly he doesn’t look that good anymore.

So, the question is, will he ever rediscover his mojo whilst still at Liverpool? Their fans might believe it blasphemy but if another club is still willing to pay £60m for him, maybe they should be tempted.

Why single out Torres, what about Rooney? Well actually they are both in wretched form. Rooney has been poor for club, though oddly not country so far this season. He is clearly distracted by his off field problems. He too is struggling to shake off injury problems but whilst he is lacking form, he is not lacking desire. However he is in the worst form of his United career and needs to raise himself out of it. A lot is expected of him and he must deliver, else Chelsea will run away with the title this season.

Oh one last thing. Fantasy transfer tip of the week? It’s got to be Peter Odemwingie up front. He looks a class act and is cheap.